Read, relax, repeat

Sunday morning again and I am feeling so much better than I did last weekend. My Sunday long lie in today is being spent reading. There is something amazing about being taken away to the place an author created. I go through phases of reading a lot and reading a little; but I have always got a book to hand. Sometimes I have a couple on the go.

Actual paper vs Gadgets

To be fair I like both. The book books I keep are ones I love and feel like I could read again. For example I started last year (yep late to the party) Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. Then the Book of Dust . Getting that wee link has meant I now know there is a second Book of Dust coming out in October. Yay. So, anyway, I bought the paper versions of most of them because, after the first, I knew I wanted to have these books to keep (and not just keep on a device). I didn’t even care really that they weighed down my weekend bag. Its just nice to sit in the sun and have the weight of a book to both use as a shade and to drift off into a world not my own. Paper is also my favourite option for reading in bed. I think. Unless the book is too heavy for lying flat and reading. Actually I am not sure about this preference nowadays as I am just as happy this morning reading from my tablet. But book books are great. When I want to pass on the ones I don’t need to keep (you know the ones; the quick reads you picked up in the airport) there are good options in Edinburgh. Stockbridge has a book sharing cabinet in one of the quiet colony streets so I just pop my excesses in there. Even in my local Tesco you can donate a book to the reading shelf for someone else to pop in and purchase (for charity) it for 50p.

I do also like my Kindle books. I came late to this party too having been committed to all things Apple until I started with Amazon Prime. I did this purely to get the TV thingy so I could watch Outlander (it wasn’t on anything else at the time). I ignored the books part until Kindle did an app that even I could download so I jumped on it. It seemed a waste not to get free books. The app is definitely my favourite for coffee shop loiterings. If I nip along the road I have a good three options for sitting and watching the world go by with a decent size cappuccino. So lugging a book along is not always the go-to option. My tablet or phone however will do just the job. I don’t have an actual kindle so I may be cheating…but I do have the app. I probably should buy one and would appreciate any advice on this as so far it has just felt like I would be adding to a long list of gadgets when my phone will do the same job.

The point of this blatant namedropping (honestly though, for me as long as people are reading; how they are reading isn’t the issue) is that with my app thingy I get and read new books I would never pick up in the airport or in Tesco. My subscription (currently on the Unlimited trial having been a general Prime member) means that books are suggested. This, for me, makes everything easy. Something pops up on email or as a suggestion; I give it a go. My current book is like that. It may turn out rubbish but you could also be reading something that enthrals, excites or entertains you (or an encapsulation of all three).

My current book

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

This was a recommendation by email. Brilliant. But…This doesn’t always go well as books are a very personal thing and one book doesn’t appeal to everyone. Anyhoo having just read the reviews they are pretty good (apart from the odd one) and even though I am now only 2 chapters in I am already hooked. Im not keen on political backdrops (the reference in this book being Ireland) but it already seems like it is being used as a reference point to a love story. Who doesn’t like a love story? Even books that aren’t about love often have something in them about love. It also starts with a grandfather / granddaughter relationship which sets a tone which is, well which is comforting. Eoin the grandfather has just passed away so off Annie is going (she is a writer) to the place he was born and raised in. Don’t worry this isn’t really a spoiler. Like I said I am only 2 chapters in but so far the author’s writing has me gripped. She writes wonderfully well (apparently a few New York Times bestsellers also agree with me in their reviews) and the book is flowing. It really does just flow and is perfect for relaxing with. Some books feel like hard work, tense, unexpected; this one doesn’t. This blog and paragraph is short because of that. Because I am just about to dump the laptop for my phone. I may even get up (in a bit) and take this one along to the coffee shop.

I think I am going to bookmark her name somewhere if this one ends up being brilliant. P.s. the link below is marketing. I am doing this subscription as its free for a bit before I go back to my normal Prime subscription (waiting on the next season of Outlander obviously!).